


Civil Twilight

by RedScribbler



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Balance Arc, Balance Arc spoilers, Drabble, Episode 69 spoilers, Ficlet, Found Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 21:05:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13796349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedScribbler/pseuds/RedScribbler
Summary: A lazy morning on Magnus' last day.





	Civil Twilight

**Author's Note:**

> someone was talking about Magnus' epilogue on twitter, so here have a sad
> 
> Also on tumblr:https://red-scribbler.tumblr.com/post/171266752462/when-taako-woke-in-the-morning-kravitz-had

When Taako woke in the morning, Kravitz had already left.

He had warned him last night that might be called away for work, and that he wouldn’t wake him if he was, but he spent the next few minutes pouting into the pillow anyway. The guest room’s bed was too big and cold without him. It was cold with him too but Taako swore they were different types of cold.

Eventually he threw the covers back, put on the worn dressing gown that was hung on the door and tottered out of the room and down the wooden hallway to the master bedroom two doors to the right.

The whole house seemed to be sleeping, the entirety of its rooms and floors occupied with guests and he tread softly.

Cracking open the Master bedroom door, he could see that Magnus was still asleep. He had been dozing since late afternoon yesterday, it was mostly what he did these days. He was snoring slightly and an open paperback was lying on his chest.

Taako slunk in and perched on the edge of the bed. He plucked up the book and marked Magnus’ place in it before reading the blurb. It was some murder mystery about vampires and werewolves set in the Old West. Settling against the headboard, he opened it at the start and began to read.

He was halfway through the third chapter when the door creaked open again. Merle was reversing into the room with a steaming mug in one hand and his Extreme Teen Bible and a notebook in the other, propping open the door in his elbow. He spilled a drop of his tea with every step he took.

“Slick,” Taako whispered.

“Oh, mornin’,” He whispered back, “What’s up?”

“Krav ditched me for work, got bored.”

Merle nodded and dumped what he was carrying onto Magnus’ nightstand before hauling a chair over to the side of the bed and kneeling up on it.

“What about you?” Taako murmured.

Merle took Magnus’ wrist and felt for his pulse.

“Couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d get a head start on keeping an eye on him.”

Taako nodded.

Merle lifted one of Magnus’ eyelids and checked his eyes before ruffling his snow-white hair and settling back in the chair. He cracked open the notebook and started taking notes.

After a time, Magnus woke.

“Morning boys.” His voice was worn and weary more with age then sleep.

“Hey.”

“Mornin'"

Magnus tried to sit up and Taako had to prop an arm around his back. He fell into a coughing fit almost immediately and as Taako rubbed his shoulder blades, Merle fetched a glass of water.

Magnus drank it in sips and thanked them both.

“So what’s on the agenda today? Apart from me trying to hack my lungs up?”

“You’re staying in bed, and we’re staying right with ya,” Merle told him.

“It’s gonna be a lazy Sunday,” Taako agreed.

“…isn’t it Thursday?”

“It’s the spirit of the thing, Maggie.”

“Hah, sure.”

They stayed like that for most of the morning, in companionable silence. Merle taking his notes and sipping his tea. Taako flicking through the pulp novel with Magnus half reading over his shoulder.

They stayed like that when the others started to trickle in; Angus carrying a breakfast tray, Carey and Killian wheeling in Lucretia, Lup and Barry carrying in more chairs, Davenport reporting in from the garden.

They stayed like that until late afternoon when Magnus threatened to physically carry them out of the room if they didn’t go get lunch and look after themselves.

(“You can’t even get out of bed!”

“And I could still kick both your asses!”)

Two minutes and forty seconds after they left the room, Magnus died.

When everyone was finished with lunch, the two of them were the first back in his room.

And they knew.

Merle checked him over anyway, one last time, his own way of a goodbye.

Taako just lay his forehead against Magnus’ and didn't move until Merle took his hand.

They left together, to let the world know.


End file.
